The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
When me and Darren moved into the house on Cottage Grove
We moved in with three dudes that we didn't know
And we didn't understand that we were livin' with them
And we should try to be their friends or at lest say hello
And the first thing we did was put a lock on our door
We'd stole some milk crates to get the bed up off the floor
We got a mini fridge and a toaster oven too
We had looked through the crack to spy out on the living room
Where the stoner would watch static on TV
He had a lizard that he named Iggy Pop
And down in the basement the drummer was drumming
He was practicing fills that we wished he would stop
And locked in his room the bass lines were walking
Soundgarden and Rush all day long
We were snug and safe in our sanctuary
Playin' games and singin' songs
Morly would come over and make jokes about the cat
You see we had made up some new names for them
Well there was Fucker and Cyclops' mother
And Shitty's real name, the same as a metal band
She'd eat the toilet paper and she would shit in the tub
Fucker was too stupid for any mother to love
Knocked the ashtrays off the table onto the floor
Makin' fun of the cats seemed to be what Morly lived for
After school came Miranda and Corinne
And after college came Marty and Sam
They would knock on the door and we would let them in
A tiny room filled with big friends
On Christmas break everyone went away
And I had the whole house for my own
I listened to The Afghan Wigs and Frente!
And I ate my free pizzas all alone
And me and Marty tried to start another band
It sounded like The Cure but I'm no Robert Smith
From up on his loft Darren made the joke one day
That we should start a band and play the things that we can't play
Darren said that he'd play the drums
And Marty said that he'd play the bass
And I said I could try to play the guitar
But I didn't think I could, I could only sing
A few weeks later we played our first show
We were so bad but I didn't know
We sang about how dumb it was to drink and to smoke
I was startin' down a long, long road
After the show to celebrate our victory
We went to Denny's and I had grilled cheese
Sittin' at that table, well, I felt like a king
'Cause I was startin' to see what the world had planned for me
School was over and the drummer moved away
Sam and Chris moved in to fill the space
Me and Darren moved up into his room
It had a walk-in closet too
We split the summer right down the middle
I'd start with the big room and he'd start with the little
And I'd eat my lunch at the window that overlooked the street
He had no such escape from the heat
Summer had come, yes, summer had begun
And the weeds were gonna grow real tall and green
And things would bloom and the vines would show
And I was gonna stretch like the branches of a tree
We moved in with three dudes that we didn't know
And we didn't understand that we were livin' with them
And we should try to be their friends or at lest say hello
And the first thing we did was put a lock on our door
We'd stole some milk crates to get the bed up off the floor
We got a mini fridge and a toaster oven too
We had looked through the crack to spy out on the living room
Where the stoner would watch static on TV
He had a lizard that he named Iggy Pop
And down in the basement the drummer was drumming
He was practicing fills that we wished he would stop
And locked in his room the bass lines were walking
Soundgarden and Rush all day long
We were snug and safe in our sanctuary
Playin' games and singin' songs
Morly would come over and make jokes about the cat
You see we had made up some new names for them
Well there was Fucker and Cyclops' mother
And Shitty's real name, the same as a metal band
She'd eat the toilet paper and she would shit in the tub
Fucker was too stupid for any mother to love
Knocked the ashtrays off the table onto the floor
Makin' fun of the cats seemed to be what Morly lived for
After school came Miranda and Corinne
And after college came Marty and Sam
They would knock on the door and we would let them in
A tiny room filled with big friends
On Christmas break everyone went away
And I had the whole house for my own
I listened to The Afghan Wigs and Frente!
And I ate my free pizzas all alone
And me and Marty tried to start another band
It sounded like The Cure but I'm no Robert Smith
From up on his loft Darren made the joke one day
That we should start a band and play the things that we can't play
Darren said that he'd play the drums
And Marty said that he'd play the bass
And I said I could try to play the guitar
But I didn't think I could, I could only sing
A few weeks later we played our first show
We were so bad but I didn't know
We sang about how dumb it was to drink and to smoke
I was startin' down a long, long road
After the show to celebrate our victory
We went to Denny's and I had grilled cheese
Sittin' at that table, well, I felt like a king
'Cause I was startin' to see what the world had planned for me
School was over and the drummer moved away
Sam and Chris moved in to fill the space
Me and Darren moved up into his room
It had a walk-in closet too
We split the summer right down the middle
I'd start with the big room and he'd start with the little
And I'd eat my lunch at the window that overlooked the street
He had no such escape from the heat
Summer had come, yes, summer had begun
And the weeds were gonna grow real tall and green
And things would bloom and the vines would show
And I was gonna stretch like the branches of a tree
Lyrics submitted by concreteblues
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